Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani on Friday called for the creation of India’s mobile application store as a part of its ‘Digital Public Infrastructure’ following tech giant Google India’s action against mobile applications of 10 Indian companies.
The tech giant took down multiple Indian mobile applications like Bharat Matrimony from Play Store because of a dispute over service fee payments. Alphabet Inc’s unit, Google, has issued notices to Indian firms behind popular matchmaking sites over violation of payment rules including Info Edge (owner of Jeevansathi) and Matrimony.com.
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“Indian companies will comply – for now. But what India needs is an App Store / Play Store that is a part of Digital Public Infrastructure – like UPI and ONDC. The response needs to be strategic @PiyushGoyal @PiyushGoyalOffc,” wrote Bikhchandani on X.
Earlier in the day, Sanjeev Bikhchandani clarified that “there are no pending invoices of Google” with the company and all payments were made promptly.
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“We received notice from Google, were compliant with Play Store policies. There are no pending invoices from Google with us. All have been paid promptly. The notice does not say we are being delisted, notice says if you are non-compliant, you will be delisted,” CNBC-TV18 quoted Bikhchandani in a report.
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Why is Google taking down Indian apps from Play Store?
The action from Google has come against Indian app developers amid a row over fee payments, according to a Reuters report. The dispute erupted around the startups’ resistance to Google’s imposition of a service fee ranging from 11-26 per centt, on in-app payments in India. Google got legal immunity to take action against the Indian firms after it received approval to enforce the fee or remove apps following Supreme Court’s decisions in January and February. The SC, in its decision directed not to grant relief to startups in fee payment.
In a blog post, Google said that ten Indian companies had chosen for an extended period not to pay for the “immense value they receive on Google Play”. It did not identify the firms. With 94% of phones based on Google’s Android platform, the tech giant enjoys a maximum share of the Indian market.
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Published: 01 Mar 2024, 06:51 PM IST